This invention relates to multi-pack carriers for bottles and other molded containers, and in particular to a multi-pack carrier which is simple to manufacture, easy to assemble, and which will securely hold bottles and containers therein.
Multi-pack carriers have long been available to facilitate the carrying of bottles or the like so that customers can buy containers of beverages in packages. Many of these carriers, however, lack total consideration of the economics of high speed manufacture, bulk shipment of the carriers in a flat state, and ease and speed of assembly of the carrier. Other available carriers, while suitable for their intended purpose, are complicated in construction, in their assembly, and do not facilitate removal of bottles from the carrier by the consumer.
The most common multi-pack beverage containers for bottles is the basket carrier, which, as the name denotes, is formed into a basket which receives the bottles. Six-packs of soda or beer are often seen in such basket carriers. Basket carriers, as is known, form a plurality of individual compartments which separate the bottles from each other. Basket carriers are formed from complex blanks which produce a significant amount of waste. Because the blanks for basket carriers are complex, they require complex machinery to assemble the basket carriers. Typically, the basket carriers are formed and placed into a shipping case and filled with empty bottles. The bottles in the basket are then transported to the filling plant. At the filling plant, the bottles are removed from the basket carrier, washed, and then placed on the filling line. Once the bottles are filled and capped, crowned, or otherwise closed and labeled, they are placed back in the carrier. Basket carriers also create difficulties in the store. They are difficult to stack, and when they are, a basket can catch the crown of a bottle in a basket adjacent the selected basket. This can cause the bottles in the adjacent basket to fall, resulting in breakage and loss of product, as well as associated revenue for the store.
To overcome the problems associated with basket carriers, many different carriers have been provided which are in the form of flat or planar carriers which accept the bottles or in the form of sleeves through which the bottles extend. In our above noted U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,776, we disclose a six-pack box-top carrier, the basic construction of which lends itself well to being used for a variety of designs or bottle types. There however is a demand for carriers which can hold up to twelve or more bottles. In our just noted U.S. Patent, we disclose that two six-packs can be combined to form a twelve-pack. However, the mechanics of a single twelve-pack (as opposed to a twelve-pack made from two connected six-packs) are significantly different than for a six-pack, and such differences must be overcome in order to make a single or one-piece box-top carrier which can hold twelve or more beverage bottles.
There is also a demand for a basic design of a carrier which can easily be modified to carry a desired number of beverage containers and which can easily be modified to carry different sizes of beverage containers.
Glass bottles are relatively tall and have narrow diameters when compared to beverage cans. Thus, when the bottle is held by its neck, the bottle may form a pendulum with respect to the carrier and be able to swing when held by the carrier. If the bottles are allowed to swing too much, they can contact each other and break. Regulatory and practical requirements dictate against a construction which will allow the bottle to swing in the carrier. In our U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,776, which is incorporated herein by reference, we disclosed a box-top carrier which will substantially prevent bottles, when placed in the carrier, from swinging relative to the carrier and to each other. That carrier, however, can be improved upon, and in our above noted application Ser. No. 895,055, the carrier was modified to allow bottles, when packaged with the carrier, to be inserted into a shipping case.